15 dec 2015
1) What
is India’s rank on the Human Development Index (HDI) for 2015 that was released
on 14 December 2015? –130th
Explanation: The
2015 edition of the Global Human Development Report was released by the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on 14 December 2015. India was placed at
130th place in the index thus gaining one place from its 131st place
during 2014. 2015 HDI ranking is based on data from 188 countries.
India’s score in HDI is 0.609 and it thus stood well
below the average score of 0.630 for countries in the medium human development
group. India stands higher than neighbours Bangladesh and Pakistan but lower
than countries like Namibia, Guatemala and Tajikistan, even Iraq. But it is
marginally
above the South Asian countries’ average score of 0.607.
But on gender development index (GDI), with a value of
0.795, India ranks behind Bangladesh (0.917), Namibia, Guatemala, even
Tajikistan.
Norway topped the 2015 HDI ranking, followed by
Australia, Switzerland and Denmark.
2) In
an important development, the ground-breaking ceremony of the
1800-kilometre-long TAPI gas pipeline project was held at the ancient city of
Mary in Turkmenistan on 13 December 2015. This ambitious project for supplying
gas from Turkmenistan involves which other three countries? – Afghanistan,
Pakistan and India
Explanation: TAPI
stands for Turkmenistan (T), Afghanistan (A), Pakistan (P) and India (I). The
TAPI project will comprise of around 1,800 km long pipeline that will supply
gas from energy rich regions of Turkmenistan to Afghanistan, Pakistan and
India. The total cost of the project is $7.6 billion.
The ground-breaking ceremony of the project was held
at Mary, an ancient desert-city of Turkmenistan, around 311 km from the capital
Ashgabat. Indian Vice-president Hamid Ansari, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz
Sharif, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly
Berdimuhamedow took part in the ceremony.
The TAPI pipeline will have a capacity to carry 90
million standard cubic metres a day (mmscmd) gas for a 30-year period. India
and Pakistan would get 38 mmscmd each, while the remaining 14 mmscmd will be
supplied to Afghanistan.
This ambitious project is expected to be
operationalised by December 2019.
3) The
Union Govt. on 14 December 2015 constituted a committee to look into the
implementation of One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for the Ex-Servicemen. Who
is heading this committee? – Justice L Narasimha Reddy
Explanation: Justice
L Narasimha Reddy, retired Chief Justice of Patna High Court, will head the
Judicial Committee which will look into the implementation of One Rank One
Pension (OROP) scheme for the Ex-Servicemen.
The committee will primarily look into measures for
the removal of anomalies that may arise in the implementation of the OROP as
notified by the Government on 07 November 2015.
The Committee will make its recommendation within six
months of the date of its constitution. In making its recommendations, the
Committee shall take into account the financial impact of its recommendations.
4) What
is the name of the first-ever dengue vaccine that was approved by the Mexican
government recently? – Dengvaxia
Explanation: ‘Dengvaxia’
is the name of the first-ever vaccine for dengue. It has been developed by
global healthcare leader Sanofi and has been tested on 29,000 patients all over
the world.
Sanofi has claimed that Dengvaxia aims to alleviate
dengue cases from individuals between nine to 45 years old. Back in 2014, the
World Health Organization (WHO) had also noted that the said vaccine had a
60.8% effectiveness rate against the four types of dengue.
Dengue is a disease that spreads through mosquito
bites and approximately 390 million people annually are said to be infected by
it in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
5) Jack
Ma-led Alibaba Group Holding Ltd will acquire which iconic Hong Kong-based
English-language newspaper, as reported on 14 December 2015? – ‘South
China Morning Post’
Explanation: According
to a filing made to the Hong Kong stock exchange on 14 December, Alibaba Group
Holding Ltd will acquire the ‘South China Morning Post’ and other media assets
of SCMP Group Ltd for $266 million. This all-cash deal will thus transfer
control of the 112-year-old English language newspaper from Malaysian tycoon
Robert Kuok to Chinese billionaire Jack Ma.
‘South China Morning Post’ is Hong Kong’s leading
English-language newspaper. It reports on issues and topics that are considered
sensitive in mainland China, where the websites of several international media
are blocked.
16 dec 2015
1) 34
Islamic countries agreed to form an “Islamic military alliance” to fight
terrorism as announced on 14 December 2015. Which country is leading this
alliance, which will primarily target the Islamic State? – Saudi
Arabia
Explanation: At
a rare news conference held on 14 December, Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and
Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman announced that the new Islamic military
coalition will work to counter the Sunni extremist Islamic State (IS) group and
develop mechanisms for working with other countries and international bodies to
support international counterterrorism efforts.
This alliance will have a joint operations centre based
in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh.
The coalition includes nations with large and
established armies such as Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt as well as war-torn
countries with embattled militaries such as Libya and Yemen. African nations
that have suffered terrorist attacks such as Mali, Chad, Somalia and Nigeria
are also members. Other Gulf Arab countries such as Kuwait, Qatar and the
United Arab Emirates are also in the coalition, though notably absent from the
list is Saudi Arabia’s neighbour, Oman.
Saudi Arabia’s regional rival, Shiite Iran, is not
part of the coalition. Saudi Arabia is currently leading a military
intervention in Yemen against Shiite Houthi rebels and is part of the U.S.-led
coalition against the IS.
The list of 34 members: Saudi
Arabia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti,
Egypt, Gabon, Guinea, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali,
Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Palestinians, Qatar,
Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab
Emirates and Yemen.
2) Which
country confirmed a new flag (called Silver Fern) as a possible challenge to
oust the country’s current flag on 15 December 2015? – New Zealand
Explanation: On
15 December New Zealand confirmed the black, white and blue design, called
Silver Fern, to become country’s possible new flag, after the final votes were
counted in a referendum for the same. About 1.5 million votes were cast in the
referendum, with a voter turnout of 49%.
In the referendum New Zealanders were asked to choose
which of the final five designs they preferred. A similar design in red and
blue came in a close second. Both flags were designed by architect Kyle
Lockwood.
The winning design features a silver fern and red
stars on a black and blue background. The winning design has similarities to
the current flag but ditches the British Union Jack in favour of the fern,
which has become a national symbol and is worn by many sports teams. The new
design will now go head-to-head against the current flag in a national vote in
March 2016.
3) Russian
spacecraft Soyuz was launched for the International Space Station (ISS) on 15
December 2015 with three new crew members. Later the capsule of the spacecraft
docked successfully with the orbiting laboratory. What are the names of the
three astronauts sent to ISS through this launch? – Yuri Malenchenko (Russia), Timothy
Kopra (USA) and Timothy Peake (Britain)
Explanation: The
Soyuz spacecraft with a new crew onboard was launched to the International
Space Station (ISS) from the space launch facility of Kazakhstan on 15
December. The crew included Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, NASA astronaut
Timothy Kopra (US) and European Space Agency’s Timothy Peake (Britain).
The mission is to spend six months aboard the space
station. Already aboard are Russians Sergey Volkov and Mikhail Korniyenko,
along with American Scott Kelly. The latter two have been on the space station
since March and are on a year-long mission.
ISS is the largest artificial body in orbit and is
inhabited by crews for carrying out scientific experiments. It was launched on
2000 and since then has been continuously occupied by humans.
4) Beverage
major Coca Cola recently said it will have to shut down some factories in India
if the government accepts a proposal to impose ‘sin tax’ as proposed under the
provisions of GST. On 15 December 2015 top Coca Cola officials met Chief
Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian, who headed the panel on GST. How much tax
has been proposed on aerated beverages under GST? – 40%
Explanation: Chief
Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian had recommended a 40% ‘sin tax’ on
aerated drinks under the proposed Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, clubbing
it with other items such as paan masala and tobacco. After this beverage major
Coca Cola had issued a statement that the huge 40% tax would leave the company
with no option but to shut down its factories. It was the first major case of a
big company raising red flag against any provision of the proposed GST.
The Arvind Subramanian-led committee had recommended a
sin tax be applied to luxury cars, aerated beverages, paan masala, and tobacco
and tobacco products (for the states).
5) What
is the name of the person of Indian origin who was re-appointed as the Finance
Minister of South Africa? – Pravin Gordhan
Explanation: South
African President Jacob Zuma re-appointed Pravin Gordhan, an experienced
minister of Indian origin, as country’s Finance Minister on 14 December 2015.
Gordhan thus replaced the little-known David van Rooyen who had only been in
the job since 10 December.
Before this Zuma had sacked previous Finance Minister
Nhlanhla Nene in a widely-criticised move that sent the rand to record lows and
caused the stock market to tumble. The developments come amid concern over
South Africa’s struggling economy.
Gordhan was widely respected when he served as South
Africa’s finance minister from 2009 until 2014.
17 dec 2015
1) Union
Finance Ministry on 16 December 2015 made it mandatory to quote PAN (permanent
account number) for all transactions in excess of Rs.2 lakh, regardless of the
mode of payment, to curb black money. This guideline will come into effect from
which date? – 1 January 2016
Explanation: The
new rule, to come into effect from 1 January 2016 will cover purchases of all
goods or services, such as say gold jewellery or furniture. This includes all
payments made through cash, cheques or debit or credit cards.
In the case of immovable property, where quoting PAN
is currently required for transactions of Rs.5 lakh, the government has decided
to raise the monetary limits to Rs.10 lakh.
As far as one-time payment of hotel or restaurant
bills is concerned, the Finance Ministry raised the monetary limit to Rs.50,000
from the present limit of Rs. 25,000.
The limit is being raised to Rs.1 lakh from Rs. 50,000
for purchase or sale of shares of an unlisted company.
However, opening of a no-frills bank account, such as
a Jan Dhan account, will not require PAN.
2) The
Supreme Court, in an unusual order, on 16 December 2015 invoked its
constitutional powers and appointed Justice Virendra Singh as Lokayukta of
Uttar Pradesh after the State government failed to comply with its directives.
It used which Article of the Indian Constitution to give this order? – Article
142
Explanation: In
an embarrassment for the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh, the
Bench of the Supreme Court appointed former High Court judge, Justice Virendra
Singh, as Lokayukta of Uttar Pradesh on 16 December 2015. For doing so the
bench examined a list of nominees and ordered the appointment under Article 142
of the Indian Constitution.
The bench was hearing the pleas filed by Mahendra
Kumar Jain and lawyer Radhakant Tripathi seeking a direction to the State to
appoint the Lokayukta at the earliest in pursuance of the Supreme Court orders.
The bench regretted that its several orders have not
been heeded to by the Constitutional functionaries – the Chief Minister, the
leader of opposition and the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
3) The
Supreme Court gave two important pertaining to usage of diesel vehicles in New
Delhi and NCR on 16 December 2015. What are these? – a) It ordered a
ban on registration of diesel-run passenger vehicles of over 2000cc engine
capacity in New Delhi and NCR till 1 March 2016 and b)
It banned commercial vehicles registered before 2005 from entering Delhi
Explanation: It
is worth mentioning that senior advocate Harish Salve had submitted in the
Supreme Court that 30% of Delhi’s vehicular population was diesel-run and the
number of vehicles as a whole had increased by 97% since 2000. He also said
that every third child in Delhi suffered from respiratory disorders and
pollution mostly affected children and the elderly.
The Supreme Court acted tough and ordered a ban on
registration of diesel-run passenger vehicles of over 2000cc engine capacity in
New Delhi and NCR till 1 March 2016 and also banned commercial vehicles
registered before 2005 from entering Delhi. The SC also ordered all taxis in
Delhi be converted to CNG.
Apart from this the SC doubled the Environment
Compensation Cess (ECC) to be levied on commercial vehicles entering Delhi.
Light commercial vehicles would have to pay Rs. 1400 instead of Rs. 700 and the
heavy ones Rs. 2600, up from Rs. 1300.
4) Indian
Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on 16 December 215 successfully launched the
PSLV-C29 rocket into the space that carried with it 6 satellites of a
South-East Asian country. These satellites will be used to help the country
gather information on disaster monitoring and urban planning. These satellites
belong to which country? – Singapore
Explanation: ISRO
launched its PSLV-C29 (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle) rocket from its
Sriharikota spaceport in Andhra Pradesh on 16 December 2015. This rocket
carried with it 6 satellites of Singapore that can capture images of Singapore
once every 100 minutes and tracks threats in the sea and air as well as natural
disaster across the region.
The 6 satellites were launched one after another, 30
seconds apart, to avoid collision and set a distance of about 20 kilometres
between them.
Of the six satellites, TeLEOS-1 is the primary
satellite weighing 400 kgs whereas the other five satellites include two
micro-satellites and three nano-satellites. TeLEOS-1 is the first Singapore
commercial earth observation satellite.
One special feature of these Singapore satellites is
that, for the first time, they will orbit around the equator and gather data
that will benefit those in the equatorial region. The satellites will be able
to produce information at a much higher frequency.
5) The
World Bank approved how much loan for India’s Clean India Campaign’, as
disclosed by the bank on 15 December 2015? – $1.5 billion
Explanation: World
Bank’s $1.5 billion loan will be used to support the Indian Government in its
efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved
sanitation and end the practice of open defecation by 2019.
The loan will be used for Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)
Support Operation Project. The Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS)
will play the overseeing and coordinating role for the programme and support
the participating states.
Funds will also be used to develop the capacity of
MDWS in program management, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation.
6) Who
took as the new Member Traffic in the Railway Board on 15 December 2015? –
Mohammad Jamshed
Explanation: Mohammad
Jamshed has held several important assignments in the Ministry of Railways,
having being associated with the Northern, Eastern and Central Railways. Some
important designations held by him include Additional Member Railway Board,
Chief Operations Manager, Chief Vigilance Officer, Chief Safety Officer,
Divisional Railway Manager, and Executive Director Railway Board.
During his posting as Additional Member Railway Board,
he was Chairman of the Committee on Traffic Optimisation set up by Union
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu.
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